Fytch Talks Origins, Working With Rezz, and Classical Inspirations in Exclusive HIHF Interview

Stephane Lo Jacome, better known to the music world as Fytch, was one of our favorite acts of 2018 and we had the spectacular opportunity to sit down with the young producer. This past year he toured with both Rezz and Droeloe and released tons of mind-bending, feelings-grabbing originals.

His style is best described as a mix of electronic and atmospheric chill-rock, but we’ll let you read and see what he had to say about his music and inspirations for yourself. I’ll sprinkle in a couple of my favorite Fytch cuts throughout.

This kid has serious potential to blow up huge and we’re so happy to be able to share his thoughts with our readers. Enjoy our exclusive interview with Fytch below!

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H: When did you move from Europe to the States? How did your musical journey commence?

F: My musical journey started when my mother put a classical guitar in my hands at the age of five. I picked up production and piano in my early teens while living in the Netherlands, and moved to the states after high school to study music at Berklee College of Music.

H: What (sub)genre would you define your music as?

F: Over time I’ve just come to call it Electronic Music. The new tracks I’m working on do have a certain rock sound though, maybe we need to come up with a sub-genre for it: Electrock?

H: Sounds like a pretty good classification, to be honest. Now, what about inspirations? Who are some of your biggest musical influences specific to electronic music?

F: In electronic music, I would say my biggest influence is Noisia. I admire their ability to design sounds and environments that elicit visual interpretation.

H: What about influences outside the industry?

F: Outside of electronic music, I listen to a lot of Rock and classical music. Bands like the Deftones, Wolf Alice, and Royal Blood, and for Classical music I gravitate towards the Impressionists and Romantics: Debussy, Chopin, and Berlioz amongst others.

H: “Saltwater” & “Promise” were two of our favorite songs of 2018, how do you think your music has evolved over the past year?

F: Over the last year I have been working with a writer that has really helped me grow my vision and sound. The creative process shifted from a technical, production-based approach, to a song based approach. All of the songs we released this year started as a guitar part with a vocal first, before any production took place in Ableton. This paved the way for guitar and voice to play a much bigger role overall, which I’ve come to enjoy very much.

H: We had a chance to talk with Droeloe at their show in DC and were very sad you weren’t the support, still an epic show. We love those guys. We also loved your new collab with them. What was the process of getting chosen to open for Hein and Vinny on their Choices We Face tour?

F: Hein and Vince are great. We met in the Netherlands a few years ago and got along really well. We’re both working with Heroic management at the moment, so when they were looking for an opener on their fall tour they reached out and I was all in for it! The tour itself was a blast and I’m very excited to get back on the road with them in March for part 2!

H: Does being on the road affect your creative process? How has that transition been?

F: Being on the road definitely shifts the focus from production to performance. I don’t expect myself to maintain the same creative output on the road, and I find that necessary to balance out the periods of condensed work in-studio.

H: What about your collab with Rezz? She has obviously taken off pretty big this year, how did the two of you link up?

F: Rezz has had a fantastic year 2018! She sent me a message on twitter saying she wanted to work on something and that kicked things off. Starting with her bassline, I wrote a vocal melody and guitar part, my writer wrote the lyrics, then she added a drop, I worked her sounds and bounced it back to her a couple times before we came up with a final Master. It took about a month and we had Toxin. I was glad to get to meet her in person the first time at Mount Snow in Vermont, and singing Toxin with her live on tour is always exhilarating.

H: What’s next? Any new releases or collabs you could tell us about?

F: Lots of exciting stuff planned for 2019. Playing in San Francisco with Rezz and Drezo on New Year’s Eve, and heading out on tour again with Droeloe in March / April. Also preparing a mini-EP for early 2019 and releasing merch alongside it, very excited about that. Additionally, there are remixes and collaborations in the pipeline which you’ll be hearing more details about very soon.

H: Is there anything you want your fans to know about Fytch?

F: I just want fans to know that their support this year has been truly magical. Keep your eyes peeled for more music, shows and for merch!

H: Thanks so much Stephane for sitting down with us, and of course thanks for all the fantastic music you’ve provided your fans! Below is your most recent work, your remix of “Step By Step” from Droeloe’s new remix EP.